Dust
by DamoclesFolly
Summary: !Warning OC Centric fic! In the beginning there was only the desire for revenge. But as always eventually that quest will lead to the search for power and ultimately damnation. *Evil Kakashi, character death, violence, mayhem, OCx?. R&R!*
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other copyrighted material referenced in this fic, instead they belong to their respective owners.

Dust

"They must die, all of them." The tiny solitary figure mumbled as he shambled down the dimly lit boulevard towards the center of the village. To his sides, figures hustled to and fro, ignoring or unaware of the ragged passerby intruding in their path.

Indeed the mysterious person soon made this point relevant when he was cast to the ground when he was shouldered to the ground with a violent shove. Landing on the dirt road with a soft thud and barely audible whimper, the apparent vagrant regarded his assailant with blue red rimmed puffy eyes. Standing in front of him was a beautiful woman, or at least a girl in the throes of womanhood. Soft red hair framed her face from underneath the confines of a rumbled hat and the black kimono she was wearing did little to conceal her supple curves. In her left hand an ornate flute was gripped loosely and her right hovered above a kunai holster attached to thigh.

All this went above the prostrate unknown as his eyes locked onto the holster and his mind burned with unnatural anger. 'Ninja!' He felt the other roar in bestial hunger and as if acting on its own, his body reacted to his anger and lashed out, attempting to bury a foot in the still standing kunochi's stomach. Or at least it tried.

* * *

Tayuya looked down in contempt at the pinned child currently groveling at her feet. He was a dirty little thing, more of a shrimp really, obviously suffering from malnutrition and lack of hygiene. Long matted hair covered a large portion of his face and a dirty scarf covered the lower portion of his face from her view but she did manage to make out two icy orbs suspended in a hazy sea of brown. Not all that uncommon in the Hidden Village of the Sound to find specimens such as these, those cast out by their homes, coming to the village that was touted as a home for the outcasts and pariahs, social lepers and political dissidents. Though whether they truly found a new home or merely a new hell was based on their apparent usefulness, as decreed by the supreme master of the place and her immediate superior, the infamous Sannin Orochimaru. Being on the Otokage's personal bodyguard, the sound four, she was aware of the large number of invalids that had migrated to _her_ city and frankly she was disgusted.

Her sandal ground back and forth painfully where it was planted on the boy's chest eliciting another round of pathetic mewling and Tayuya grinned evilly at her victim's pain and discomfort. Time to make good on her position of power and crush this mendicant.

"Hey you shit bag, watch where you're going, you could of hurt someone!" The redhead punctuated her taunting with additional pressure applied downward into the writing form. "Daring to strike a ninja of the Sound, I should have your hands cut off." Hearing this threat the kid increased his panicked squirming to a frantic level and fear inspired tears started to leak out of his eyes. But it was pointless and if anything the grin split her face even further.

Moving slowly, deliberately, her hand unsnapped the leather holster on her thigh and withdrew a single razor sharp kunai. Power was what she lived by, it's what she craved and there was nothing more powerful than the ability to determine another's destiny. While originally she had just planned on scaring the kid, but in the rush of the violence she found herself to elevate her actions.

"Call this a fucking summary punishment, it's not like I ever believed in the fucking judicial system anyways." Tayuya laughed as she transferred her center of mass to one knee, keeping her weight on her target's chest to keep him from getting away. "But consider yourself lucky fag I've got to be somewhere, sawing of your arms would take wayyy to long, even seeing how much of a fucking twig you are." Gathering his dirty locks in her free hand she gave a mighty yank.

Parts of his scalp parted from his head and he finally voiced his pain in the form of a terrified shriek. For the first time the other people on the street finally glanced in the pairs direction, but any hope of reprieve was dashed as the pedestrians noticed the purple bow on the back of Tayuya's kimono and turned back to their business. Nobody wanted to get involved with ninja business and even less with the business of the sound four. Sawing the remaining connected parts of the scalp, she tossed the bloody flap of skin aside. His screams were a sweet symphony to her ears.

Blood poured freely down the side of the boy's face and Tayuya reminded herself to wash up before she met the rest of the group and presented herself to Lord Orochimaru.

"Speaking of which whelp, I have to be going so consider this a fucking parting gift!" She turned her gaze back to the quivering boy's visage thirsting for the fear that she would find there. What she found though shocked her and almost made her lose her balance. Nothing, not even anger was to be found on the child's face, in fact his eyes were closed and he appeared to be unconscious. Seeing this the kunochi's face contorted in anger, enraged that this nobody would dare to fall asleep under her thumb.

"Goddamn it faggot! WAKE UP!" she screamed, jamming the knife into the boy's torso, her anger crashing through her previous restraint. Immediately his body convulsed, eyes snapped open and another scream ripped out of him. Followed by a dribble of blood running out of his mouth, possibly a ruptured lung, maybe a shredded artery.

'Oops, looks like I overdid it a little.' Inner Tayuya spoke sheepishly, getting up off the soon to be dead wastrel lying at her feet, pulling the kunai out as she did so. A ragged whole had appeared on the boys chest, spurting bright red liquid onto the grimy street and staining it a crimson red. Not long now. "Sucks to be you dirt bag, guess you should've watched where you were fucking going. Well see ya later shitstain!"

With a dismissive wave of her hand the psychotic kunochi turned and began to walk away, already her mind drifting away from the incident and turning to other thoughts, particularly how to explain her lateness to her esteemed master. Not that he'd be angry about her actions but it was never wise to keep the man (?) waiting. Not to mention that her clothes were stained red with the blood of that little shi…

Pain like nothing she had ever experienced blossomed in the center of her stomach and she clasped her ruptured navel, grasping the extruding hand in a sick parody of a lovers grasp, trying hysterically to remove the foreign object from her body. She couldn't get a grip however, her blood making the appendage slippery and impossible to hold onto.

"All must die mur dela virgis." A raspy voice issued from behind her and she felt another arm wrap around her waist and pulled her close. "Ashes to ashes, your fate befalls all." Suddenly her arm was pulled tight and forcibly shoved/pulled into her own abdomen.

"Feel your FAILURE!" the voice took on an intense edge to it and Tayuya's spine shivered as fear began to soak its way through her shock riddled mind as her hand explored the warm confines of her shredded viscera. Already her vision was becoming hazy as blood loss and systematic shock began take hold.

One last violent tug and the grip on her hand let her go and she collapsed to the ground, like a puppet devoid of strings. So lost was she that the feeling of vertigo and impact never reached her addled mind and as the light of her soul began to fade she was treated with a vision she would come to ponder for the remainder of her very, very, short life.

She had twisted as she fell, so now she was oriented facing away from her original direction of travel. So it came to be that in her final moments, just before all faded to black, that she witnessed her killer's silhouette hovering above her, bloodied hand hanging loosely to his side. 'Fuck…'

The vagrant stood over the corspe of the kunochi, unaware of the screams and panicked scramblings of the village people in the street, trying to distance themselves for this potential ticking bomb in a hurry. Raising his hand to his mouth, he licked some of the salty fluid off with an unnatural enthusiasm. Then he collapsed.

* * *

Jirobo ran across the roof tops, aware of Sakon, Ukon and Kidomaru trailing behind him in a rough triangle formation. They had been dispatched by Lord Orochimaru in search of their erstwhile teammate when she never appeared for their meeting. Not wanted to further anger their unstable master the present members of Sound four had left in a hurry.

"Stupid bitch, probably off somewhere playing that damn flute." The large bodied teen mumbled under his breath.

"It wouldn't be the first time it's happened." Kidomaru growled and for the umpteenth time Jirobo was surprised at his arachnid-like fellow sound ninja's supernatural hearing. "Tayuya doesn't run on anyone's time. One day it's going to kill her…"

"That's if Lord Orochimaru doesn't kill her first." Sakon spoke worriedly. It was a widely known secret that the blue haired ninja had a major crush on his female teammate and had tried to ask her various times to be his girlfriend. Times which she promptly and viciously turned him down.

"That would be the least the whore deserved." Ukon, the more violent of the two twins snarled. He had never liked the redheaded kunochi, probably due to the various dismissals that she had put upon his brothers advances. Not that he would have liked her even if she had reciprocated the feelings but to be truthful it would have been supremely awkward, the ultimate third wheel.

Jirobo heard all this and rolled his eyes. The romantic endeavors of Sakon never ceased to annoy yet entertain the members of Orochimaru's bodyguard. Not to say Jirobo had never considered getting a little closer with Tayuya but he'd rather stay as far away from the receiving end of the girl's giant doki, so he never tried. Scanning the village streets for any sign of the wandering musician he spied a large group of sound ninja and civilians gathered in the street. Curious, he changed direction and landed on the dirt, aware of the others quickly falling into step behind him.

As they approached, the crowd parted, aware of what their black getup and purple bows meant. Finally reaching the center it took him a moment to figure out what he was looking at and when he finally did his jaw dropped and he heard the collected gasps of Sakon and Kidomaru and the bloodthirsty chuckling of Ukon.

Tayuya lay in a puddle of her own fluid and from the amount of it on the ground it was apparent she was no longer in the land of the living or had been for some time.

'Cause of death, freakin big ass hole in the stomach.' Jirobo thought sarcastically, moving closer to the cadaver. With revulsion he noted that her hand had been actually rammed all the way through her torso, coming out the other end, still holding her uncoiled intestines firmly in her grip.

"Whoa, that's fucked up." Kidomaru managed to stutter out and Jirobo couldn't help but agree, whoever did this was a seriously messed up individual.

"Tayuya!" Sakon cried as he rushed forward to take up his crushes body. However he never reached her, tripping on his way and falling right on his/their face. "What the hell!"

At first Jirobo thought it was a pile of trash that the conjoined twins had tripped over, but on closer it was revealed to be a kid, a small and dirty one at that. Couldn't be any more than 6 years old, but what was he doing lay out on the street near the recently deceased Tayuya. Noting the bloodied bits of scalp missing and the red stained rags he was wearing, maybe he had been a victim of the redhead's killer. However…

"Son of a bitch! He killed her! He killed her! THE FUCKING BASTARD KILLED HER!" Sakon shouted, clawing at the prone kid's body with his bare hands. Seeing that the situation would soon get out of control, Kidomaru moved to restrain the enraged Sakon and after a brief struggle managed to subdue him with all four of his arms.

Jirobo was shocked, to say the least. That this, this kid had managed to kill one of the four, an elite sound ninja to say the least, was shocking if not downright impossible. But it was impossible to doubt the evidence. Talking to some of the ninja in the crowd he managed to piece together what had happened. Not to mention the copious amount of blood on the boy's hand where there was no wound.

Turing back to the struggling Sakon, Jirobo backhanded the smaller ninja across the jaw. "Stop being stupid, we can't kill him, at least not until we report to Orochimaru."

Seeing Sakon nod in agreement he motioned to Kidomaru and the spider-like teen released the twins.

"Alright but after that he's mine!" Sakon menaced rubbing his tender jaw with his hand.

"Okay, let's get out of here, Kidomaru grab Tayuya, I'll get the kid."

"What the fuck, why do I gotta pick up the bitch meat?" Kidomaru complained but nonetheless moved to scoop up the corpse; face screwed in disgust as he gingerly tucked the girls intestine back in her gut.

Jirobo sighed as he scooped up the still unconscious boy and jumped up onto the nearest rooftop. This was going to take a lot of explaining.

* * *

"Why have you returned?" The cold sinister voice of the Otokage broke the ominous silence that prevailed in the throne room and sent shivers through the spines of the three ninja who had prostrated themselves in front of the ornately carved throne that dominated the far side of the room.

Jirobo gulped nervously and raised his head a fraction of an inch and risked a glance at his master. Concealed in shadows, the snake Sannin's face was hidden, but judging by his tone he was in an even worse mood. Great.

"My Lord, we've located Tayuya, but…" he was interrupted when the shadowed figure at the end of the hall gave a dismissive grunt.

"Well then where is she? I don't detect the fool's chakra. Is it that you presume to lie to me peasant?" The last part was said with no hint of emotion, but the three ninja could hear the unspoken threat behind it.

Starting to sweat, the big boned teen lowered his head again and squeezed his eyes in fear.

"No my lord I would never dream of it. We did find Tayuya, but she was dead when we arrived." He managed to stutter out.

Taking the cue Kidomaru rose and retreated to the corner of the room and returned dragging the girls corspe in two hands and the now hog tied mysterious kid into the center of the room. After he was done he returned to his previous position.

"Why are you annoying me with this information? I care not for the ingrate girl's demise."

"But Lord Orochimaru…"

"Silence." He didn't need to raise his voice, the huge spike of killer intent he released was more than enough to cut off any objections his minions might have had. "Now get this trash out of my sight and leave my presence."

"Yes Lord Orochimaru, at once." Jirobo moved to secure the bound boy as Kidomaru moved to secure the body. Unfortunately at this moment the ragged pile of rags began to move and then struggle as their tied prisoner tried to wriggle out of his bonds.

Orochimaru watched with disinterest as one of his "elite" bodyguard tried to subdue the strange boy that he had brought with them into the throne room. Somehow the bound child had managed to free one of his arms and was currently scratching, biting and clawing for all he was worth. Which was apparently enough in this case to momentarily elude further capture.

It didn't bother the snake that one of ninja had been killed an unforeseen variable that was easy enough to correct. He had droves of willing follower that desired the power that the curse mark entailed and even if most of the applicants didn't survive, there would always be one. Yes his plans would continue unaffected, his goals and revenge would still be achieved.

The sickening crack of bones snapping brought his focus back to the struggle taking place to his front. Apparently Jirobo had misjudged his own strength in handling the captive and the boy's head hung at a rather unnatural angle, his neck obviously broken.

Orochimaru sighed as the fat ninja held out the body and bashfully shrugged his shoulders.

"Oops."

Though they couldn't see it the Sannin rubbed his borrowed chin wearily, he was beginning to become annoyed with their continued presence. After all he was a busy man. Kabuto Yakushi had recently returned from Konaha with a report on the Sannin's former village and was waiting for a one on one meeting with his esteemed master.

He didn't have time for this foolishness. Grating his teeth he prepared to once again express his displeasure, but was interrupted as the impossible once again dared to transpire.

The boy's body had moved, no was moving and writhing within Jirobo's arms, who responded as any sane person would and hastily threw the boy on the ground.

Still not showing any outward sign of surprise, in a true testament to the man's steel resolve, Orochimaru sprung out of throne in a near instantaneous motion and in a blink of an eye picked up the still dazed boy by the neck and examined him with a cruel calculating eye.

"Intriguing."

* * *

The vagrant boy sat alone in the dark, confined to a cell on one of the lowest levels of Orochimaru's hidden base. Steel manacles bound his wrists and confined him to the solitary metal bench that was the only furnishing in the tiny room.

Far in the distance he could hear the plaintive cries of the other prisoners, victims of the Snakes vile experiments and crooked justice. They were doomed souls, all of them wasting away in the dark and already he was beginning to feel the despair and hopeless atmosphere the place extruded in droves.

Sniffling his nose, he rubbed his swollen eyes; the dust in this place was really making his allergies act up. At least that's what his mother used to call it, before…

Images of soft flesh meeting and parting before razor sharp kunai, screams ringing through the dark night and a burning hut rushed in from the most remote corners of his psyche. He struggled to beat the memories back and return to ignorance.

Vaguely he felt the other waiting in the eaves, hungry as always, whispering sweet nothings of violence and hate.

"N-no." he eked out unwilling to listen to the pure madness that emanated from his own mind and with a great effort he managed to subdue the lunatic cacophony to a dull buzz.

Momentarily gaining a small reprieve from his constant burden, he took a moment to reevaluate his surroundings, noting the heavily secured iron door and until now unnoticed bucket stashed in the far corner of the room.

What his current captors had in mind for him, he had no idea; indistinctly he recalled something that had happened earlier with a red haired kunochi, pain then the unmistakable copper tang of blood. The big red haired ninja he had fought with in the weird throne room had been wearing the same outfit as the girl before so maybe the two were connected.

So this was his punishment. To be forgotten in some pitch blacken hell hole along with the others of his kind, till the end of time or his life at least.

A sharp clanking noise roused him from his reverie and a beam of light pierced through the dusty gloom of his cage as a rusty tray of something was shoved through a latched trapdoor at the base of the door. He rushed to the portal but was too slow. By the time he reached it the grate was again closed and the light vanquished.

Picking up the tray, that he found to hold some pungent smelling gruel like substance, he jammed his face into the slop. Uncaring of his dignity, pride or some other tangible feeling of self respect he proceeded to devour the rancid food with uncanny fervor.

Wiping his mouth of any remaining gruel residue and licking it off his fingers, he made his way back over to the bench and lay down. There was nothing else to do. Nothing else he could do but to sit and think; to revisit his demons again and again. Alone in the dark.

The child kneeled with his head on the ground in the room he had first visited in this horrid place. Taken from his eternal dark, cleaned and scrubbed and given a new white robe to replace his decrepit clothes, he was manhandled till he stood in the strange throne room.

He was nervous, since he had been taken from his cell no one had spoken a word, except a guttural "Kneel" when he had first entered the chamber. Since then he had been prostrate in the silence, waiting expectantly for what surely would be his ultimate punishment.

Given an amount of time he couldn't begin to comprehend in solitude; he had managed to recall pieces of the events that had led to his current situation. Murder was his crime. Sick perversion to the highest degree, no matter how he justified it to himself, no matter how right, would never be accepted by the dead ninja's fellows. His death would be their answer for his crimes.

Now he was panicking; breathing began to come in ragged sobs. He couldn't die. Not now, not when he hadn't made his dream reality, not while they still lived. In the back of his skull the madness howled its agreement, though more in concern of its own continued ability to cause mayhem than his petty childish goals.

"Come here child." After about thirty tension filled minutes of waiting, a smooth, airy voice broke the silence and he felt himself pulled, no, compelled to obey. Coming to a stop about five meters from the gilded throne he found himself falling to his knees without being told, the amount of KI just too much for his untrained mind to handle.

"Look at me." His body struggled to obey the command and after much effort was able to bring his view to the throne's occupant, whom he recognized as the man who had effortlessly rendered him unconscious the last time they had met. Inside the beast railed once again against the edges of his consciousness, loathing and jealous of the power this man held. "What is your name boy?"

"I-I don't rem-mem-ber." He managed to say, the snake eyes freezing his body like a hunted rabbit. It was true though; it had been so long since anyone had called his name he couldn't recall if he even ever had one. Strangely enough it was really embarrassing, even further depleting his self worth. It took all his willpower to keep his head up through his shame.

"Shh, there is no need for shame my child. We will find you a name, one that is worthy of such a special individual." The man's tone had taken on honeyed tone and the boy could not help but putting his trust in this strange man.

In the depths of those golden eyes he found security and comfort; the two things that had been denied to him for so long. That is, ever since that fateful night that would propel his life into the spiraling abyss of cyclopean depths that his wretched existence had become, the night where childhood innocence and ideals were torn away in an orgy of bloodshed and violence. The night that he had died. The night he experienced his first taste of hell.

* * *

"Sweetie, it's time for dinner!" His mother's voice called out through the house's open kitchen window and reached him where he was playing. Wiping his soiled hands on his dirty overalls, he quickly scampered over to the cottage's front door and reaching up to grab the handle, streaked inside.

His father and older sister were already at the table, the dirt and mud from the rice paddies hastily clean in preparation for the evening meal.

"Hey kiddo, your mother tells me you've been getting in trouble with Father Reiko again, is that true?" His father's tanned patriarchal face was serious but he could make out the mischievous sparkle in his eye and the uncontrollable twitch in the corner of his mouth.

"It wasn't my fault! Ricki said 'ol baldy was givin away those apples! Me an him didn't know he'd come at us with that stick uv his!" he explained, trying his best to put on his puppy dog look and naivety to the test.

"Oh?" his father's eyebrow tweaked and the frequency of the twitches in the corner of his mouth began to increase. Obviously he was having a good time with this. "And what about the bucket of paint?"

Here it goes, the moment of truth. "What bucket of paint da? I don't have no paint!"

"I know you don't son, Father Reiko has it now, though I doubt it's in the way he would like it." His father broke at this point and began to chuckle, laughing at the expense of the tiny hamlet's resident holy man. He had been confronted by the enraged priest on his way back in from the fields and the man had not had time to clean the bright red paint from his vestments. That he was angry it was obvious and the priest had used some very crass and rather surprising choice of words to relate what had occurred. "I hope you and Ricki don't mind but since ya' two have had so much experience with painting I promised your help to the Father in helping paint the temple."

"But, but Dad!" the prospect of painting the entire village chapel did not appeal much to the youngster.

"Or if you would rather we can just take this out back and take care of this right now." The not so empty threat of a whipping was more than enough to make the kid back down.

"Er, painting sounds like fun Dad, I'll go get Ricki and we'll do it tommorrow!" a big faux grin split his face and as the family seated itself at the table, he thanked the gods he didn't have to face the switch.

"Wow, Mom this looks great!" his older sister exclaimed and he agreed, it did look good. Fresh vegetables from the garden, paired with rice balls, flatbread and a side a beef roasted to perfection. Indeed just from the smell wafting off of it, he mouth had begun to water and he slowly attempted to maneuver his hand next to the meat.

'Almost there…' With a meaty thunk, his mother's hand raced down and slapped his away.

"Honey, you know better than to eat before everyone's been served! And look at your hands, filthy! Have you been playing in the dirt again?" his mother's admonishment caused him to hold his head in shame and she noticed this. "Sweetie why don't you go to the kitchen and clean up? We'll wait for you, hurry up!"

Anxious to get to the food and relieved he wasn't in any trouble, the boy scrambled up out of his seat and into the kitchen. Positioning himself over the wash bucket he took the scrub brush and began to get the dirt and grime off his hands and face. His clothes he would have to wash later, but for right now at least he'd look good enough to meet his mother's demands. Grabbing a towel from off the rack and dried his hands with it.

Though he might grumble about his parent's strict nature, there was no doubt that they loved him and he loved them. He and his sister were lucky indeed, while they didn't live exactly the most luxurious life, they were lucky to have such a loving home. Truly nothing could go wrong.

Curse fickle fate and devious designs of demons, the wish of childhood optimism took that moment to slit its own throat.

As he was walking back to the table the front door to the cottage exploded inward, a fiery cataclysm sending chunks of door flying through the air like deadly shrapnel. Smoke billowed through in through the jagged opening and the family picked themselves warily off the ground where they had been thrown. The table was smashed nearly in half and the remains of a once sumptuous feast lay shredded and burned all around the room.

"Dimitri, what was that!" his mother screamed to his father and the large man dazedly shook his head and stumbled to his feet.

"I don't know Helen, I'm going to find out." Watching his father stalk bravely towards the still smoldering door frame, stopping by the fireplace on the way and grabbing his old sword from where it hung above the mantle. Drawing it from it the dusty scabbard he hefted it with relative ease and posted at the door. With a quick look he poked his head out and scanned the front yard, it was getting dark and he had to squint just to make out the details. Seeing nothing he turned back to his cowering family and gave a reassuring smile, more for the sake of the kids than from actually being at ease.

"Helen take the kids out the back, I'll foll-erk!" his father's wind pipe was crushed by a Snake masked woman and instantly, the door was crowded with four masked figures in black and gray armored suits, that rushed into the cottage and took up positions around the room.

His sister, forced to watch their father so brutally murdered in front of her, let out an ear piercing scream, which prompted one of the ninja to unsheathe a black ninjato from his back and brutally slice her across the chest. After a few heartrending moments she gave a horrible gurgling death rattle and lay still.

Seeing this his mother let a soul rending screech and threw herself at the white haired ninja with a dog mask on, who had just moments ago nonchalantly murdered her daughter. Meanwhile another of the masked ninja, this one female; with a cat face and purple hair, dumped a big heavy looking sack on the remains of the table and untied; it pulling out what appeared to be a rather heavy set man with a burlap concealing his face.

At this time, dog face had his mother pinned up against the wall; knife held in his free hand in a relaxed lazy manner.

"Yo, come on Lady, let's stop fighting. Why don't we get to know each other seeing as your single." He said in a lazy yet lewd sounding voice, his kunai cutting a shallow cut across her bust, exposing her plain undergarments.

"Inu you pig!" the purple haired Neko said disgustedly then pointed to the bound man who the boy recognized as the local feudal lord, whom he had seen at a spring time festival a few years ago "We need to take care of this and get going."

"Eh, I guess you're right" nonchalantly he ran his knife across his mother throat, red spurts of blood coming out in thick gushes "Sorry Miss, but maybe it's for the best, yeah? I never did like girls with kids." As she slid down the ground, he plowed his sandal into her face, mangling her nose and shredding her right eye. He gave a lighthearted laugh "Ah, oh my bad, Lady-chan!"

Horrified the boy tried to scream, but found he was too scared to make a sound and instead tried to squeeze further back into the corner where he was trying to hide.

At this point another of the masked ninja this one with a face of a weasel, approached the bound man who was laid out on the table and removed the gag that had been stuffed into his mouth.

"Who are you? What are you doing?" the fat man began to stutter; "Don't you know who I am?"

"Of course I know who you are, you're a dead man walking." The Dog snickered at his own joke and motioned for Weasel to finish the fat-ass. Weasel moved silently, a shadow flitting through the room in a flash and drew a thin killing knife from his belt. Seeing this, the so called noble began to plead for his life, promising power, money, women or titles for his continued existence.

But his pleas fell on deaf ears and the silent killer swiftly jammed his knife into his victim's heart, thus ending his so called important existence with no more difficulty than he had ended the lives of the simple peasants living in this house.

"Good job, Itachi-kun, Kakashi-kun, now let's cleans up and get back to the village before we get stuck here for the night." The final unidentified ninja said with a disturbingly sweet female voice. Her mask was a stylized serpent, fangs bared in preparation to strike.

"But Anko-chan, don't you want to spend the night alone all alone, just the four of us. I'm sure Yugao-san wouldn't mind spending some time with the _great_ Uchiha." The dog, now identified as Kakashi, wrapped his arms suggestively around the snake girl from behind.

"Yeah, very romantic, what with the bodies and all." the other purple haired woman, Yugao, snorted, gesturing to the carnage all around them.

"We should leave this place." The weasel broke with a sad dark voice. "We must return to Konaha as soon as possible."

"Hmm, for once the Uchiha is right, let's go." With that, Kakashi released his hold on the pretty kunochi and escorted her to the door waiting to move until his teammate went ahead of him.

In the darkened corner the boy gave a shiver of relief, it appears he had gone undetected. Now the survivor guilt began to hit home and in his distress he made a fatal mistake. Shifting his weight, his boots accidently scraped against the ground and made the tiniest scrik. It was enough.

In the blink of an eye, the white haired devil was in front of him, and through the mask eyeholes he could see strangely that one eye was covered with by a strip of white cloth, giving the man the look of a cyclops.

"Yo, kid." The white haired man gave a kind of eye smile and a peace sign. "I guess it's just not your day." The other hand shot forward at ridiculous speed and planted a hidden kunai into the boy's stomach. Twisting the throwing knife cruelly in the boy's body, the ninja reached up and removed his mask, revealing a wickedly handsome face, marred only in its perfection by a large horizontal scar running down from the top of his right eye to the bottom of his cheek. Even more disturbing, while the left eye was a normal blue the right was a strange reddish color with a freakish ring and three tomoes.

"I just thought I'd let you see the man who freed you of your wretched existence, Kakashi Hatake, the famous Konaha Copy Cat Ninja." he smarmed with a stunning smile "You should be honored."

Returning his mask to his face, the white haired man retreated, pulling the knife out with a sick sucking sound as he left. The boy moaned in agony as the blade came out a different direction than it had went in, causing even more damage and shredding his belly beyond any hope of repair.

As he walked away he looked back and threw his hand up in a lazy salute. "See ya round kid!" With that he joined the others outside and dissapeared into the night.

The boy was left alone then, amid the empty shells that were previously host to his family. They were dead, he was sure of that much. The white waxy skin on his father's terrified face, exposed ribcage of his sister's shredded form and the rosy red stained shirt of his mother would haunt him for the rest of his life. The images of their faces, contorted in death, would warp his being and destroy any hope of normality in his life.

He cried for them then, tears streaming down his cheeks, falling off his face and mixing with the blood seeping through his shirt. He could make out his heartbeat slowly beginning to fade as his time grew short.

His last thought before he accepted sleep was that he would give anything to destroy every last one of those freaks that had sent him to hell.

* * *

"Yes Lord Orochimaru." The child bowed his head in reverence to his newly appointed master and mentor. When he had been asked why he didn't die when Jirobo snapped his neck, he replied that he didn't know, it had been that way for as long as he could remember.

"My da always said I was a tough kid, used to say I was the toughest nut he'd ever seen." Orochimaru nodded his head thoughtfully, appearing to show genuine interest in what he had to say.

And when he had been asked if his parents were ninja he had replied that they were not.

"I see." His tone of voice hadn't changed, but the child could tell from his body posture that the snake was disappointed with this. So he changed the subject, using this chance to find out the answer to a question that had been burning in his heart for nearly a year.

"Master, may I ask a question?" he shifted nervously and seeing this, the Snake nodded for him to proceed.

"Thank you Master, I was wondering if you knew of a place called Konaha? I think it's a ninja village."

Orochimaru's face hardened at the mention of his former village and when he spoke his voice dripped with scorn. "Yes, I know of such a place. It is a ninja village, two days east of here, populated by the most evil and disgusting scum in the elemental countries. It is a place of hypocrisy and closed minded ignorance, a place that I hope to one day see cast down and the people thrown out to the demons that they themselves birthed."

The vagrant smiled at hearing this. Now it mattered not what ulterior motives the Snake like Kage harbored, to struggle and crush that hated village was his ultimate goal and he would give anything to achieve it.

"_Would you kill this world? Sell your soul? Cull the innocent?_" the other's voice queried, sick and twisted with hate and insanity.

"_If it brought me my vengeance? Yes, I would do whatever it takes._" And the truth was he would, burn the world to ashes, tread on the dust and grind it into oblivion if it gained him what he desired.

In an instant he made his decision. "Lord Orochimaru, I give you my life in exchange for the chance at revenge." The wretched child solemnly swore, placing his hand over his heart in a sign of fealty.

"Yes little one, I can make you strong. So strong that your enemies will never be able to cause harm to you again. If you join us here, become a ninja of the Sound, you will experience power the likes of which you never imagined in your wildest dreams, only as strong as you make yourself." The silken currents behind his words preyed on the unstable mind of the child, guiding and coercing him to the tune of the legendary ninja before him. "But first you need a name, something to express the rebirth of your destiny and the start of a new path."

The vagrant waited expectantly for a few moments as his new sensei thought about a proper title for his newest vassal.

"Dasuto."

'_Dust? What kind of name is that?"_ Dasuto thought, somewhat confused with the peculiar choice. Some of his confusion must have shown on his face however and the Snake Sannin blessed him with a sinister smile.

"As is that which is left in the past, all must fall to dust." Orochimaru spoke cryptically and the newly christened boy felt a shiver of fear make its way down his spine.

At least the other approved.

A/N Hmm, it's been a while since I've been on this site. Don't know if I'll end up updating my other stories, meh probably not (at least for now)


	2. Chapter 2

Dasuto ducked a vicious swing from Zaku's lead hand, the razor sharp kunai passing just a hair's breadth above his unprotected skull. Reacting purely on instinct he anticipated the follow up right hook, jumping back and throwing a wild haymaker aimed at the taller boys face.

Weaving around the uncontrolled punch with not much difficulty Zaku peppered Dasuto's guarded arms with a quick jab and dropped down low for an attempted sweep kick.

Managing to just in time to jump over the low oriented blow he never even saw the vicious uppercut coming until it was too late. All across his vision stars exploded and he actually felt himself leave the ground, before slamming back down to earth in a rather un-heroic and painful manner.

"Wow Dusty, you're fighting even worse today than you than usual!" Zaku joked as he offered a hand to help the supine teen to his feet.

Pulling himself up, Dasuto couldn't help but feel a twinge of depression at his friend's poor attempt at humor. Truth was he could barely stand his failure and thinking back on the past few years he couldn't help but wonder where it had all gone wrong.

It had started with so much promise, swearing his loyalty to what he would later learn was one of the world's most powerful ninja, gaining a chance to redeem himself for his past failures.

But it had all gone to shit.

No matter how he tried, how much blood sweat and pain he put into training, he could never seem to gain a significant increase in power. Truth be told he was what any conventional ninja academy teach would call insignificantly average. His chakra reserves? Average. Strength and speed? A wee bit above and as for ninjutsu, taijutsu and genjutsu? Probably a little bit under, only being able to perform the standard henge, bunshin and kararimi techniques that were taught in the academy.

It was no surprise then, to him or anyone else, that Lord Orochimaru had rescinded his favor of the boy who had once showed so much promise and indeed had seemingly forgotten he even existed.

He was lucky he supposed, being placed on the leading Sound genin team after his miraculous graduation from the academy, the so called "Sound Three" after the team's most powerful member, a mummy boy named Dosu had been promoted in order to fill the gap left in the snake Sannin's bodyguard after the death of Tayuya.

But truly his greatest fall from grace had come after Orochimaru-sama had attempted the curse seal technique on him, which turned out to be a tremendous failure as his body rejected the mark and left him almost comatose for weeks confirming his fate as a true waste. It had happened not long into his tenure at the academy, the prospect of gaining as much skill and power as the infamous Sound four had been a rather seductive and exciting prospect. Alas it had been for naught and the fact that he still bore the aborted curse seal, a half moon encircled with 5 stars a evenly spaced intervals, only added insult to injury.

It had been almost seven years since that day, seven years of wasted effort and failed dreams. The presence that had haunted him in his wandering years had seemingly died out, retreating into the deepest parts of his sub-conscious. Without it he was just another nobody line soldier, useful only as cannon fodder and the occasional C ranked mission. Strangely this change had occurred after the botched curse attempt and at times it only left him to wonder.

But over time he had grown to accept his position as a second fiddle in a grand orchestra. He managed to like his teammates at least, the smartass, hotheaded Zaku Abumi and the confident, female power presence of Kin Tsuchi, the team's genjutsu specialist and ad-hoc leader.

Speaking of which…

"Dasuto-kun that was pathetic!" the feisty little brunette scolded, looking up at him in displeasure and crossing her arms across her petite frame in a perfect parody of an annoyed older sister.

He had grown over the years and as if making up for his lack of progress in any other area, had reached almost six feet in height and he wasn't even done. But at heart he still hadn't grown much at all.

"I'm sorry Kin-chan! I've just had a lot on my mind recently." He said with a bowed head, speaking barely above a whisper, as if already suffering from the effects of her bell trigger genjutsu.

"Ha! Something on your mind? If that's the case then this something has been on your mind for as long as I can remember!" she had been getting fed up recently with his depressing lack of progress and it showed in her tendency to blow up on the slightest little things. Though perhaps she had good reason to be agitated; what with the upcoming Chunin exams and everything.

A week ago, Kabuto Yakushi, Orochimaru's right hand man, had appeared and told them they were to be representing the Sound Village in the upcoming Chunin exams to be hosted in Konaha. They were to appear to be taking the exams for the advancement of their village standing, but in reality their sole purpose was to engage some Konaha shinobi and test his combat prowess. Sasuke Uchiha was the intended target and when shown a picture of the boy, Dasuto's thoughts immediately labeled him as a "class A brooder".

However such petty thoughts were swept aside and made insanely unimportant compared to the swell of anger that began to build in his gut. Soon it rose to encompass his entire being, wiping out any semblance of rational thought. For a moment he thought he felt a stirring in the recesses of his being, just like old times. This was power, the raw emotion, the feel of dominance through indomitable hate, the feel of crushed bones and ruined bodies, slick blood flowing between diamond edged claws. Life slipping away inch by torturous inch the sweet stench of burning bodies and the tang of souls being devoured by a great beast and.

As quickly as it had come the feeling left him, sinking back down below the quagmire of self doubt and shame that seemed to make up his person now. Even if he had the chance to take revenge there was no doubt in his mind he'd be too weak to follow through. So it faded.

Quickly it was forgotten though as Kabuto explained the details of the exam and what they would have to do once they reached their target to be.

They couldn't kill him, that much was clear and Dasuto couldn't help but feel a pang of jealously at Orochimaru-sama's interest in the boy. It had once been him in the spotlight, now the fallen angel, wallowing in the mud and filth of his just comeuppance.

So here they were, just two more days until they departed for the Chunin exams and he didn't even have enough strength to defeat his teammates one on one and wouldn't even attempt to think about taking on more than that.

He had a bad feeling about this.

The trip to Konaha took less time than he had expected. Half a day of leisurely travel and he began to notice the change in the countryside around him, changing from the rolling plains and paddies of Rice country into the deep forest of Fire.

He trod through the forest, the heavy tread of his black leather combat boots crushing the fallen leaves into powder beneath his feet.

They had all received new clothes in preparation for the exams, urban camouflage patterned trousers and bandannas. Zaku wore a tan coat with the kanji for "death" on it, black ninja sandals and a stylized cowl around his neck. Kin wore the same pants as the others, but instead of a tan shirt wore a green halter top and fingerless leather gloves to go with her black sandals. Dasuto had the same pants as the other two, but had his hair shaved short compared to Zaku's spiky mess and Kins luxurious locks. For his top half, he kept it simple with a black tank top under an old foliage green windbreaker. However on their forehead protectors they all sported the single musical note of their patron village.

As they walked, he couldn't help but steal glances at his female teammate from his position in the rear of wedge. It was low of him and he felt awful, but he couldn't help himself. To him she looked radiant, decked out for war. In his mind she was akin in appearance and spirit to an Amazonian warrior, gliding through the battle with an air of grace that was constantly denied. This fueled his curiosity more than any petty appearance could ever do and though he still hadn't matured enough to understand the connection shared by a man and a woman on a more intimate level than only sexually, he was still happy to admire from a distance and take what pleasure he could from her company and presence.

It wasn't too long after that they left the tree line and he got his first sight of that hated village firsthand.

It was big, very big. Possibly the biggest place he had ever seen! Those massive gates, if the civilian's of this village could create such a monstrously large creation then who knows what their ninja were capable.

Suddenly he felt very small and vulnerable, what could one man, no, boy do against something of this magnitude? Images of the power displayed by those four ninja that murdered his parents flashed in his head and only served to build up the unbreakable wall between him and fulfilling his life's purpose.

"Gah! Look at the size of those gates! This place is amazing!" Zaku exclaimed a bit too happily for his liking.

Just days before his teammate had been granted Lord Orochimaru's blessing in the form of the two air blasters that had been installed in his palms. Excited he had immediately set out to test his new toys, demonstrating their awesome abilities in front of a stunned Kin and a depressed Dasuto, who merely grunted his amazement. Unfortunately for Zaku, the showboating had ruptured the tender grafts that had not had time to fully heal and he had to abstain from using his cannons for at least three days. So much for practice, however it did make Dasuto a little happier to see him shot down in such a manner. Karma could be such a bitch.

Back to the present, the three made their way past the gigantic gates and checked in at a small toll booth on the side of the rear throughway.

Inside they were confronted by possibly two of the laziest Chunins the trio had ever witnessed. They were wearing nametags, one which read Izumo and the other Kotetsu.

"Welcome to Konaha, names, ranks and village please." The one with half his face covered in hair, Izumo, drawled; all the time not taking his eyes from little orange book that seemed to command all his attention.

"I'm Kin Tsuchi, this is Zaku Abumi and that over there is Dasuto. All three of us are genin of the Hidden Sound Village." Kin growled, irritated that this ninja wasn't giving them the proverbial time of day.

"Hmm, is that just Dasuto, no last name? That's pretty weird." the Chunin said again, still not looking up.

"Yeah, that's me, Da-su-to. Would you like me to spell it out?" Now he was angry, the gall of this leaf nin, calling him out on the name that Orochimaru-sama himself gifted him with.

For the first time the seated ninja looked up "No I'd rather not, you might not spell it right and then where would we be?" he sarcastically drolled aware of the rising anger in the camo wearing genin right in front of him.

Frantically Dasuto tried to calm himself, something about these ninja set him on edge and an uncanny anger was starting to brew inside him. Kin noticed this and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Dasuto-kun, it's not worth it, remember our orders from Lord Orochimaru," she whispered soothingly into his ear "We can't risk exposing ourselves to the Leaf nin before we have completed our objectives." Her hand began to stroke his back in little rubbing motions, until she felt the tension in his shoulders dissipate and she let go.

"Jeesh man, take a chill pill. Don't want you getting hurt before the big day." The one called Kotetsu sneered and Dasuto did his best to ignore the jibe. "Alright you three, don't cause any trouble here are your passes, be sure to keep them on you at all times. On them you'll also find your room numbers. So don't lose them, okay dust-bunny?"

'_I'm so gonna murder these guys!' _Dasuto lunged at the snickering pair of asshole Chunins. Unfortunately he forgot there was a table separating him from them, so instead of ripping them apart with his bare hands like he originally planned, he was left laid out on the ground painfully cupping his groin in anguish.

The two Chunins chuckles turned to full blow hysterical laughter and as a red faced Dasuto climbed unsteadily to his feet and let his friends give him support as he hobbled away.

Just one more reason to hate burn this murdering two-faced village to the ground.

And all those asshole Chunins with it.

Naruto Uzumaki, Konaha's number one most surprising knucklehead ninja, was bored.

This stupid test was taking waaaaaay too long and he had long ago decided since he didn't know any of the answers there was no point in wasting his time on some stupid words. He glanced back and noticed his crush and teammate Sakura Haruno working diligently on her own paper and he sighed in frustration. Oh course she could do it, she was only the smartest girl in their graduating class. And as for the teme, Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto was pretty sure he was doing that crazy eye thing of his and somehow getting the answers from that.

_'Bah, nothing cool has happened so far! Where are all the big ninja battles and duels? Where are the cool jutsus and flashy taijutsu moves? Where's lunch?"_ Naruto held his stomach as it let out a tremendous growl and embarrassed he quickly turned his head back and forth to see if anyone had noticed.

Turned to the left, clear, whew, now just to check the other side. He whipped his head around; almost knocking out a blushing Hinata Hyuga with his wild swing.

"Ah, Hinata-chan,sorry, sorry!" Naruto frantically whispered, waving his hands in an attempt to placate the violet haired girl.

"It's alright N-n-naruto-kun, I-I'm okay." She whispered back and combined with her already soft voice Naruto could barely hear her speak, if it wasn't for the quiet atmosphere of the classroom he definitely wouldn't have been able to.

"Ah, good. Um, Hinata-chan, er are you okay? Your face is really red." He sincerely asked, wondering what was wrong with his friend. She could be choking!

'_Like that one time Kiba got a whole chicken bone stuck in his throat and had to go to the hospital to get it removed. Or the time I tried to swallow that whole bowl of ramen in one gulp! Or the time…" _By this time Naruto had forgotten all about Hinata's plight.

Seeing his attention now elsewhere, the poor girl was able to get a grip on herself and the chronic blush dipped back down to her normal healthy glow. Inside though her heart was still in a fluster.

'_Why can't I tell Naruto how I feel! Does he feel the same way? Why didn't he let me give him the answers? Does he not like me?' _Head whirling with these thoughts the easily flustered clan heiress, reactivated her Byakugan and got back to work. She still had some answers to finish and compare with the other test takers.

Meanwhile Naruto continued to stare off into the distance, now drooling out of one side of his mouth, dead to the world around him.

'_MAH! WHEN IS THIS GOING TO END!'_ Naruto groaned, '_This is taking forever!'_ The test had been dragging on for what seemed like hours and the ADD riddled orange adorned boy could barely stop from screaming out loud in frustration. If this went on any longer he might just do that! At this time over and eighth of the original teams had been eliminated for being caught cheating.

Finally a bell rang and the proctor, some big ugly guy named Ibeekea, or something like that, announced that the first part of the exam was over and it was time for the final question. But first any team that wished to drop out could do so; they could take it again at a later date. If however they decided to risk it and stay for the final question and they got it wrong, oh this was bad; they would be barred from taking the chunin exams ever again.

To say Naruto was sweating at this point was an understatement, if he messed up he would probably have Sakura and Sasuke both trying to kill him, not to mention he could forget any hope of ever getting the pink haired goddess out on a date!

Looking to his left and to his right, he noticed one hand shoot up, then another, starting a chain of drop outs that silently stood up and filed out the door in a single long line of defeat.

His arm began to quiver at first and then raised a fraction of an inch off the desk. He tried to will it down, he really did, but like it was tied to a bundle of balloons it began the inevitable ascent upwards.

However at the peak of its ascent he slammed it back to the desk with a loud !SLAM! that attracted the attention of nearly everybody in the classroom, including the scarred proctor Ibiki.

"Ha! Never will you get me, Naruto Uzumaki, to admit defeat so easily! Not when I never give up! Not when I never break my promises and NOT when I'm going to be the greatest Hokage the worlds ever seen! So try your best to scare me off with that, I will never back down! That is my nindo! Believe it! That is my ninja way!" he finished with a shout and a slight smile on the face of the stoic ninja and the collective gasp from the rest of the testers told him that he had been successful in his impromptu oration.

When it was revealed that the final question was whether or not you were brave enough to stay and risk it all, Naruto sighed in relief. He really would've failed otherwise. Death by fangirl didn't seem like a very attractive way to go.

It was at this point that Ibiki Morino, now revealed to be the head the ANBU torture and interrogation squad, started to tell the genins just how important it was to put your entire self on the line when it really mattered. To sacrifice all for the greater good.

Here he was really ramping it up and Naruto assumed it was his way of trying to top _his_ speech!

'_Sorry old man, not gonna happen!'_ However the battle of the amateur orators would have to wait as the next stages proctor made a rather, startling entry. Almost even dynamic if you would.

With a crash of broken glass and tearing fabric and a whirl of tan, purple and er, breast, somersaulted through the opening and landed with a flourish. Behind the woman a sign had been pinned to the wall by kunai, showing both lighting fast precision and speed. But while the delivery system may have screamed professionalism, what the sign proclaimed, not so much.

MEET YOUR NEXT PROCTOR! THE SEXY AND SINGLE, ANKO MITARASHI! ARRIVING!

But just to prove a point and maybe enlighten those that couldn't read (Naruto) the attractive purplette announced in a loud booming jovial voice "ARRIVING NOW THE SEXY, SINGLE, ANKO MITARASHI! YOUR NEW PROCTOR!" beaming she threw up a peace sign "That's me!"

Naruto and just about everyone in the room sweat dropped, _'Man this lady is crazy!'_ or _'Don't think I'd ever see anyone wearing that much fish-net! Oh mama!' _were the two most common thoughts being broadcast across the classroom.

Well that is all except one.

It was her, the snake woman from his nightmares, he was sure of it.

"_But Anko-chan, don't you want to spend the night alone all alone, just the four of us?" _The dog masked Kakashi's voice ran fresh in his memory.

'_And there she is standing in front of her peers without a care in the world, having the audacity to joke and flirt as if there was nothing wrong. As if the BLOOD of countless innocents didn't stain her pretty little hands crimson.' _He was shaking now his whole body responding to the maelstrom of emotions churning inside._ 'WHORE, MURDERER, COWARD, CUNT, SUCCUBUS, BLOODY CORSPE!" _Dasuto broiled on the inside, the pressure inside, building to such a point where he was sure he was about to explode.

'_But I must control my anger, otherwise the plan will be compromised and Orochimaru-sama's will be displeased.' _Too late did rational thought restored itself; as by this time he was already across the room, throwing knife after knife at the object of his hatred.

Hinata wasn't sure exactly what just happened, one moment the strange kunochi was preening her feathers after her surprising dynamic entry and in the next the room exploded into a frenzy of violence as one of the Sound Ninja who had threatened the Genin Kabuto, charged out of his seat and started chucking knives at the special jounin at the front of the class.

Hinata gasped as one of the knives actually hit Anko in the leg, sending her to the ground. However in a testament to her skills she, even with an injury she managed to dodge the rest of the knives easily. But it seemed the mysterious genin wouldn't be deterred as easily as the errant projectiles had and with one final last bound the Sound ninja crossed the distance and the two grossly mismatched ninja's came together with deadly force.

Kin clasped her hands over her mouth in pure shock over what had just occurred. Dasuto had lost it, he'd finally snapped. A quick look over at Zaku confirmed that he felt the same, that there friend had finally lost his long time battle with sanity and just gone off the deep end. It had always been a distinct possibility, it was easy to see that their strange teammate was never the most emotionally balanced person and this couldn't be wholly unexpected.

'_When Lord Orochimaru finds out, all three of us are going to die!' _Kin thought worriedly and quickly switched into damage control mode.

The only way this could work is if Dasuto actually managed to defeat the jounin, though looking from the way the fight was going, that probably wasn't going to happen.

_ 'Shit! Time to think up a plan B and fast!' _

Naruto really didn't have anything going through his head; he was still stuck on Anko's fishnet bodysuit and would be for quite some time to come.

Out of all of them the one most confused individual in the room at that moment was no other than the single sexy Anko Mitarashi herself.

On moment she was basking in the undivided attention of her audience, whether it was from respect or lust she didn't care, as long as all eyes were on her.

However just as she had had enough of the eye fucking and was about to begin the brief on the second half of the Chunin exam, she found herself dodging a flurry of thrown knives, taking one in the leg while she was at it.

'_Was my entrance really that bad?'_

Currently she was trading blows with some random genin that had charged at her like a bat out of hell and frankly she didn't know what to make of him.

There was no way he was an assassin, he wasn't nearly skilled enough. As it was she was effortlessly holding her own against the crazed idiot and it was becoming more and more evident that that first hit to the leg was just a lucky shot.

Finally tiring of the pointless spar, Anko took the offensive, throwing a lighting fast flurry of punches and kicks that for the most part all connected where they were supposed to. Seeing that her victim was temporarily stunned she grabbed the bottoms of his legs in a classic wrestling throw and brought him down to the ground, hard. The kid was knocked out cold.

Getting up and planting a foot on the back of her vanquished foe, Anko gave her audience one of her best "friendly" smiles.

"Sorry about that little interruption folks, now as I was saying before, the next stage of the chunin exam is going to take place in the Forest of Death, which also happens to be my personal favorite training ground, ever! It's going to be sooo much fun!"

As she explained into the specifics for the next test, she couldn't help but keep going back to the few clear images she had of her would be attackers face and the unmistakable hatred she had seen. Something was telling her she had seen this guy before. Somewhere…

"I can't believe they seriously bought that!" Kin laughed as they walked out of the Konaha ANBU headquarters building. "We are seriously lucky we got away! If Lord Orochimaru ever found out we almost got caught." She left the implied threat hang, in truth if their mission truly was botched, they probably would all end up in unmarked graves somewhere in the forest.

"Then its good everything worked out in the end. We get to keep fighting, Orochimaru-sama is happy and Dasuto here get's to go back to getting his ass kicked by sexy jounin women where ever we go!" Zaku joked and slapped his friend on the back.

For his part Dasuto didn't say anything, just kept his eyes down and tried to avoid making eye contact with anyone on the street.

What had happened back in the classroom? One moment he was sitting in his chair, shaking his in lieu of the blond loudmouth's sudden declaration of idiocy. Seriously who wore that much orange? Such an ostentatious color and individual, it truly surprised him that the kid wasn't pushing up daisies already.

So there he was, sitting in his chair, when that fucking snake had appeared. Not that he had anything against the slithering reptiles but the bitch had set him off bad, so bad. He hadn't felt like that in years, not since that first night he had arrived in Hidden Sound. No, better not to dwell on that; that way laid madness.

He didn't remember throwing the knives, or charging across the room in a berserk rage and engaging the special jounin with taijutsu. He did remember the subsequent beating that took place and his removal from the academy and transfer to ANBU HQ. They had locked him in a holding cell and soon after a tired looking jounin with bags under his eyes and a perpetual cough came and began question.

"So *cough* Dasuto-san, why did you attack the proctor?" the sad looking man asked, resting his hand easily on the well worn pommel of a simple katana, the threat obviously there and potent.

He licked his lips; he had to think fast, they would never accept the truth. Even if he could prove she was guilty, they would undoubtedly back their own, condemn him for seeking justice. So he lied.

"I'm so sorry; see the thing is I thought, I thought we were under attack as part of the exam. I apologize but I can be a bit jumpy at times, victim of two many ambushes eh?" he halfheartedly offered and from the look the other man gave him, he was sure he was done.

But after it was all done, the jounin had just asked him a few more standard questions, thanked him for his time and left. And surprisingly enough he only waited a few minutes before the door opened again and a chunin came in and informed him he was free to go.

Picking up his weapons from the evidence locker on the way out, he met his teammates at the front desk. They had waited for him while he was incarcerated and on the way out he explained what had happened on the way out.

"So Dats-brain why'd you go off on that chick anyways?" Zaku asked, curious as to the other boy's rather uncharacteristic moment of insanity.

Kin nodded her head in agreement; she had been trying to figure that out as well.

Dasuto shrugged his shoulders and cracked his neck, trying his best to look relaxed as possible. "I dunno, guess I just wanted to get in the fight a little earlier, test these so called Konaha nin and see what their worth."

'_Bullshit.' _Kin thought though what came out was a sickly sweet "So what'cha learn?"

Dasuto's face cracked for the first time in a small smile. Tomorrow the second stage of the chunin exams would begin and he had already been beaten to a pulp.

"It's gonna need some more work."

Ibiki waited patiently for Hayate to stop coughing after telling his report. His fit finally passing the special jounin dropped his hand, trying vainly to conceal the blood that covered it. The interrogator noticed this but didn't say anything about it.

"So their obviously hiding something." Hayate offered, trying his best to get his breathing back to normal. "Do you want me to bring them all in?"

The scarred man was silent for a moment and when he spoke it was with great thought. "No, leave them be, I have a feeling this is about to get complicated, better to watch from the shadows and try to piece together the situation." Seeing the other man about to object he held up his hand in a placating manner. "However I will request for the Hokage to task someone to watch the group; and should anything untoward occur, intervene."

"Hmm, that would solve the problem, let's just *cough* hope they *cough* keep *cough* their noses clean."

"Indeed."

A/N: Next chapter begins with the chunin exams, so there should be some form of action happening. Expect things to deviate from the canon after the exams, but still remain relatively on the same track. No world shaking changes in the near future. Anyways, read and review as always, criticism is welcomed as well as rants. Oh and I haven't decided on the pairing/s for this fic, if you have any suggestions let me hear em', won't hurt anything and who knows I just might use your idea.


	3. Chapter 3

The Oto trio sped quickly along the dark canopy of the aptly named Forest of Death in search of their prey.

The test it turned out was simple as the random chunin who had briefed them explained it. Survive five days in an incredibly hostile environment and attempt to capture the second of a paired set of scrolls.

Dasuto was relieved that the Anko woman had not been there to proctor the second exam as originally planned; he wasn't sure what would have happened if he saw her again, especially so soon.

Starting with Earth they had managed to capture a Heaven scroll from an embarrassingly weak team from Iwa that they had defeated the day prior and now two days into the exam their success in the exam had been ensured and they were moving to complete their primary mission.

"How the hell are we supposed to find those fucking bastards in this place?" an exasperated Zaku moaned. They had been looking for hours and so far had not found the slightest trace of the Konaha nin. "They could be anywhere!"

Dasuto kept his mouth shut, but he couldn't help but agree with the older boy. There was an almost infinite amount of hiding places in the shaded confines of training area forty four, searching all of them would be downright impossible in the time they had left.

"Zaku why don't you stop complaining and focus on finding them, unless you forgot just what is riding on our success?" Kin scolded, reminding the three of them the fate that failures suffered at the hands of an unforgiving master. "Plus your constant bitching is giving me a headache!"

Zaku smirked and raised his middle finger and Dasuto chuckled at the pairs antics. It was times like these that he could forget about the constant dark cloud that seemingly hung over his life. Times like these that he felt in control, like the briefest hints of sunlight through those impenetrable curtains of darkness.

A sudden raised fist from Kin, who was leading the formation, caused him to instantly freeze and take up defensive position on the tree branch he was currently occupying. Zaku did the same on the right side, facing out towards the rear and to the right, while Dasuto covered the left, creating a three hundred sixty degree field of security.

Cocking her head as if concentrating, Kin opened her hand and made a gesture down, the trio silently slipping from their precarious perches and quickly dropped stealthily to the heavily vegetated ground below.

"Faint Chakra signal from up ahead, feels like the bitch from the duck-butt's team." Kin whispered, pointing to a natural cave made out of the roots of a giant tree at the head of clearing fifty meters away.

"You're right; I recognize her signature from the first exam. From the sound of the breathing there seems to be three of them, two asleep or unconscious and one awake. The two sleeping are probably the blonde idiot and the target. Pinky seems nervous too, judging by her breathing." Zaku agreed, his superhuman hearing imparted upon him as a gift from Orochimaru-sama proving once again to be an irreplaceable asset.

"Uh, yeah, I feel it too." Dasuto lied, lacking the advanced auditory capabilities of the other too and the chakra control to sense others energy he was essentially in the dark as to the current situation.

"Well with two of their members out, it would make sense for them to set traps, to warn them of incoming danger." Kin continued, either not seeing his bluff or just not caring. "Now how do we avoid the traps but keep the element of surprise?" she wondered out loud and Dasuto opened his mouth to respond.

"Well we c…"

"I got it!" Zaku exclaimed quieting, cutting him off in the process as he explained his hair brained scheme. After he finished his two teammates looked at him with what could only be considered blank faced confusion. Finally Dasuto broke the awkward silence with the most pertinent question.

"But where the fuck do we find a squirrel?"

* * *

Twenty minutes and a badly scratched arm later, Dasuto returned to the edge of the clearing and presented his crazed captive to his obnoxiously amused teammates.

"Here's your fucking rodent!" he hissed, basically throwing the struggling creature at Zaku's face, which the other ninja caught with ease.

"Thanks bushy-tail, I hope you didn't get in too much trouble out there alone." He joked and Dasuto shot him a heated glare.

"Fuck you, just hurry up and blow the damn thing up!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Zaku took the squirrel and hastily taped the explosive note onto the critters back.

"Careful with that thing Zaku, careful." Kin worriedly said as the spiky haired boy completed his delicate operation. Finishing his work he hoisted the critter aloft and with a mighty throw heaved the little nuisance out into the clearings center.

Immediately the three got to ground anticipating a big boom from the unstable paper bomb. When nothing happened the two braver members peeked up above the log they were hiding behind and watched as the rudimentary homing bomb moved closer and closer to the rooted cave that contained their sleeping target.

* * *

Sakura fought again against the slow pull of her eyelids downward as she struggled to remain awake. She had been fighting sleep for hours now, the energy she had to exert moving Sasuke and Naruto to this cave after their fight with that scary Grass ninja had left her exhausted and barely able to stand guard.

Truthfully she would of fell asleep hours ago if it hadn't been for the deathly responsibility she felt for her unconscious teammate's safety. Already she was worried enough about their unresponsive state and feared what might happen if she fell asleep.

What scared her most however was the strange design on Sasuke's neck that the Grass nin had marked him with. It was of sinister design, a pulsing ring of three tomoes that shone with an evil red energy. She had tried a simple medical jutsu on it but Sasuke had responded poorly to the treatment, thrashing in his sleep and going into a violent series of convulsions. She hadn't tried anything since, other than applying a water soaked towel periodically to try and cool his feverish head and check his vitals.

Naruto on the other hand was suffering from what appeared to be mild chakra exhaustion and a minor concussion. As it was she couldn't do anything for either of them but pray that they woke on their own and soon, before she collapsed.

Movement in her peripheral alerted her to a squirrel approaching her hastily constructed trip wire and reacting without thought she threw a kunai to scare the animal away. Giving a sigh of relief at the close call she turned her head out into the gloomy forest and continued her silent vigil.

* * *

"Fucking cunt!" Zaku swore loudly, cursing his plans failure at the hands of the pink haired Konaha nin.

"It was a stupid plan anyways, it's no wonder it failed." Kin answered smugly, happy that the plan failed, now they could do this her way. "Maybe she isn't as stupid as we thought."

"No, look at the ground where she threw the kunai." Dasuto spoke up and sure enough against the outline of the implanted knife they could just make out the shadow of a nearly invisible line of ninja wire running off into the woods on either side of the clearing.

"Clever, good job Das, well at least now we know where the trap is set. Now we just have to get over there without one of you clumsy idiots setting it off." Kin stated. "All right, Zaku come with me, Dasuto stay here and don't come in unless things start getting out of hand alright?"

"Yeah, no problem, I'll just stay here and watch." Dasuto flatly said, the last part muttered under his breath. With a frown Kin regarded him but she didn't say anything, instead rising and moving into the clearing, a smirking Zaku falling into step behind her.

* * *

Sakura watched as the two grey clad ninja made their way into the clearing and tensed ready for a fight. These sound ninja were bad news and judging from their little confrontation with Kabuto before the first exam, their temperament couldn't be very good.

Thankfully though she only counted two of them, the weak looking ninja in the green parka that had attacked the proctor at the exam was missing.

'_What kind of idiot charges a jounin anyways? Probably locked up in an asylum somewhere, crazy retard.' _She thought and her hand reached slowly towards the kunai holster strapped to leg as the pair stopped halfway through the clearing just a pace away from the tripwire she had set.

"Hey Pinky we're here for the Uchiha, wake his ass up and send him out here!" the female sound ninja called, planting her foot on the ground just a hairs breath from the trap.

'_What do they want with Sasuke? If they're not here for the scroll what could they want with him?'_ She questioned, starting to sweat as the anticipation of a fight began to settle over her, tiredly standing up in a basic taijutsu stance.

"If you want Sasuke you're gonna have to go through me!" she challenged sounding more confident than she felt. _'Just a few more inches!' _

"Fine if you're not going to give up the Uchiha then we're just going to have to take him ourselves!" Kin yelled as she jumped over the tripwire and charged at the other kunochi.

'_Yes!' _Sakura thought with glee as she kicked out the concealed peg at her feet, which released a wire, connected to a pulley which in turn dropped a gigantic log that had been cunningly suspended overhead.

'_Shit, that tripwire was a feint!_' Kin cursed as she heard the whoosh of something incredibly heavy accelerating at a tremendous pace towards her head. She wouldn't be able to dodge in time.

"Air Cutter: Air Blast!" Zaku cried out as he fired both of his arm cannons at the incoming log, bisecting it neatly down the middle. Taking her chance, Kin rolled out of the way coming up just short of the shocked Sakura and punching her brutally in the stomach.

Doubling over in pain, Sakura barely had time to breathe let alone recover before she was yanked upright, the sharp edge of a kunai to her throat preventing her from attempting escape.

"Stupid bitch! It's weak ass kunochi like you that give women a bad name! Did you really think that would work? Did you?" Kin angrily demanded, giving her a painful yank where her hand was planted firmly in Sakura's luscious locks.

'_She's right, I haven't taken being a ninja seriously, being more concentrated on what other people think of me to notice that I've been falling behind in everything else.'_ Her eyes darted to her unconscious teammates and her eyes filled with a look of determination. _'But no more! I've realized that I must protect those people that matter to me, no matter what the cost, whether it be my own comfort or my life itself!'_ Moving with a speed she had never before attained, Sakura reached into her holster, withdrew a kunai and sheared her own hair off, causing a surprised Kin to release her.

Sakura whirled around and faced the enemy Kunochi, prepared for the fight of her life.

'_From now on I fight for those people I love, no more living for myself. That is who I am and I will trium…"_

WHAM!

"Strike!" Zaku called happily, dropping the branch he had broken over the kunochi's head and proceeded to embarrass the profession with a little victory dance.

"Damn, bitch you got served! That's what I call a bitch slap! Kazaam hoebag! Bea-"

"Will you shut up already and help me get the Uchiha?" Kin asked exasperatedly, dragging the unconscious ninja out by his legs and dumping him unceremoniously in the center of the clearing.

"Now we just have wait for the fag to wake up, beat his ass and get to the tower."

"Wanna kill the other two while we wait?" Zaku asked casually as if he was talking about the time of day.

Kin gave it a seconds thought "Yeah, might as well. But after we're done we burn that orange kid in his jumpsuit agreed?"

"Oh totally, I mean I have a migraine just thinking about the bastard." Zaku agreed already stacking the pile of wood.

Dasuto watched with disinterest as his two friends confronted, then overwhelmed the Konaha kunochi and dragged the target out into the open. They never saw the green blur that rushed in to meet them and his warning died in his throat, out of time.

"Konaha Senpu!" the victorious cry was followed by a perfectly executed spinning kick that launched Zaku up into the air and into a crumpled heap.

"Don't move my beautiful cherry blossom, Rock Lee, Konaha's Beutiful Green Beast is here." The spandex wearing monstrosity announced to the grounded pink hair kunochi. She gurgled out a reply which seemed to satisfy the bushy eye-browed protector and he turned to Kin and regarded her with a fiercely determined glare. "Oto nin, know that you will not harm any more people under my watch."

"I'd like to see you try and back that up beady eyes." Kin said, throwing a senbon and jumping back from the eccentric taijutsu master. She wasn't the strongest in taijutsu and decided to play it safe instead.

Lee dodged the thrown projectile with a fast juke left and instantly began to close the distance between the two, running at a low crouch to minimize his frame and avoid any more needles.

'_Shit too close.'_ Kin threw three more senbon in rapid succession with pinpoint accuracy, aiming for the green genin's legs, which he promptly jumped over. But it didn't matter, Kin never intended to actually stop the charging shinobi, senbon weren't intended for that. But they did provide an ample distraction that provided her enough time to retrieve what she had been looking for in the confines of her ninja pack.

The pair of smoke bombs she dropped hit the ground with a crack and thick gray smoke started to bellow out. Soon the entire clearing was covered in a hazy cloud of gray smoke. Perfect.

* * *

Lee turned slowly in the pea soup that had obscured his vision, ever vigilant for the return of the enemy kunochi who had evaded his attacks. It was frustrating to say the least, not being able to close with the enemy and effectively neutralize the threat.

The chime of bells brought his attention to the edge of the clearing or at least where he thought it was. He found himself drawn towards the light silvery sounds, drawing him in like a sirens song all thoughts of Sakura and the fight forgotten. He was memorized, his inability to resist genjutsu making him incredibly vulnerable to the temptress songs wiles.

Through lidded eyes he saw a vague human shape moving in the distance, far, far distance. Mind muddled and his body feeling like someone had suddenly dropped yet another 500 hundred pounds on him, Lee made his way slowly closer and closer to the fuzzy image.

Finally the haze parted and Lee found himself face to face with an angelic being of unparalleled beauty and he was instantly smitten.

Plus she was nude!

However his, er, excitement didn't last long as the facsimile Kin's over exaggerated features twisted into a cocky smirk.

"You enjoy the show hentai?" Lee nodded his head in a drugged manner and if anything the apparitions smile widened. "Well now here's the admission price!"

With that the Konaha's Beautiful Green Beast felt the drowsy presence of the genjutsu fade and he quickly dropped back into a ready stance to continue the fight. Too late did he realize he was at the very edge of a deep ravine and too late did he feel the effects of gravity take hold and he fell.

* * *

A little over a hundred feet away the real Kin watched the Green Beast from the safety of a tree branch as he fell into the ravine chuckling at the helpless green dupe's expense. So stupid, that they had probably been the least complicated genjutsu she was capable yet he had still fallen head over heels for it, or her rather.

_'Pig.'_ She thought, delighted in the just comeuppance received by the fuzzy browed weirdo _'Still, he was kinda cute.'_

* * *

Deep down in a wooded ravine located deep in the Forest of Death, the Beautiful Beast of Konaha laid still at the bottom, his body torn and bloodied but his youthful attitude still intact his honor unbroken. Valiantly he raised his head to the heavens and struggled to get out his message to world, his epiphany of truth before the blackness of temporary sleep took him in enticing arms.

"Gai Sensei, I have finally become a man!"

* * *

Dasuto couldn't see for jack shit. The thick smoke irritated his eyes and he could feel himself beginning to feel nauseas due to the constant exposure of the acrid mixture. Moving away from his concealed position he moved out into the obscured clearing trying to find his teammates.

It was just blind luck that at that time the wind decided to pick up and the smoke dispersed in a lazy fashion. Seeing Zaku laying on the ground, he rushed over to check his friend's vitals.

"Get off of me!" Zaku yelped, throwing Dasuto off him and rising to a sitting position. "Where were you? Missed one hell of a party." The boy growled and Dasuto hung his head in shame.

"Well at least he knows how to follow orders, unlike some of us." Kin said announcing her presence by dropping into the clearing from the trees above, landing lightly her feet.

Zaku merely grunted in response "What happened to the freak in the spandex?"

"Hmm, oh don't worry he's out of his element. People weren't meant to fly after all." Hearing this Zaku clenched his hand in anger.

"Damn, wish I would have a chance with the freak, he only got the drop on me because I was distracted."

"Well then maybe your fate decrees you to lose at the hands of your betters." A haughty voice called out. "And face the Hyuga prodigy of Konaha! Neji Hyuga!"The long haired, white eyed ninja decreed from his position high up in the canopy. Beside him sat another kunochi in a pink Chinese print shirt and her hair wrapped up in buns on either side of her head.

'_This is not good! Now there's two more of these leaf nin and I can feel more chakra signatures emanating from the bushes.' _Kin grimaced; she had wasted a lot of chakra on that last genjutsu and probably wouldn't have enough to do a repeat performance.

"Heh, even more rats? Guess I'll just have to whip all your asses!" Zaku postured, but Dasuto could see even the headstrong brawler was nervous about these odds.

"We shall see." Neji said preparing to fight, but he never got around to it, because at that moment the last loyal Uchiha decided to grace the ninja with his newly awakened presence.

"Hyuga, wait I will deal with this trash." Sasuke smirked, and Neji gave a curt nod, resigning himself to merely watch and see how this turned out.

There was something different about the raven haired boy, as even Dasuto could sense the evil chakra bellowing from the newly awakened shinobi. There was something evil at work here something wrong. Well it was either that or the glowing red black lines that pulsed and twisted along the boy's exposed skin. Speaking of which, those lines looked familiar…

'_A curse mark? But how?'_ As far as he knew the only person capable of administrating the warping mark was Orochimaru-sama, but why would he send the sound three to fight in a clearly unbalanced fight? Regardless of his original power the curse mark would boost the Uchiha's power to well above genin levels and well above their teams powers combined. '_Why would Orochimaru send us? Unless, unless, we were never meant to win in the first place...' _

The pulsating power coming from the advancing Uchiha reached a new tableau and Dasuto found it hard to just look at him. With every step the insane smirk on his face grew larger and a maniacal look came into his eyes. Coming to a stop next to the struggling Sakura, Sasuke placed a comforting hand on the girls shoulder.

"Sakura, who did this to you?" He demanded and she managed to hold up a trembling finger and point towards Zaku. Sasuke saw this and "hmphed" then dropped Sakura callously back to the ground, his Sharingan blazing away in all its glory.

Dasuto could see Zaku was nervous, but as always his headstrong friend put on a brave act. "So you've got a neat little trick, big deal! I'm gonna beat you down just like your worthless girlfriend.

Advancing again Sasuke clenched his hand made it into a fist. "I'd like to see you try dog! With this power I am above the likes of such a useless excuse of a shinobi as you. The pinnacle of human evolution; I am above all others! Now feel my true strength!"

Moving almost too quickly to perceive the changed Sasuke kneed Zaku in the stomach and hammer-fisted him into the ground where he fell boneslessly, like a discarded sack of trash.

Sasuke flipped backwards away from the unconscious boy and as he was in mid turn he had already started churning out hand signs and the moment he landed he acted with,

"Fire Type: Grand Fireball Skill" His mouth opened and a stream of fire issued forth, expanding into giant conglomeration of burning flames.

Zaku didn't even have time to scream as his body was consumed in the fiery inferno, his body twitching uncontrollably and attempting to rise pitifully before finally lying still.

Still smirking Sasuke snapped his fingers and the fire extinguished itself, leaving a blackened twisted corpse still burning on the ground. Dasuto's eyes widened as he regarded what moment ago had been one of his only friends in the world. To happen so fast, a life snuffed out with no ceremony or respect it was just wrong, inside him, dormant feelings of hate began to stir and anger began to build. His teeth clenched and he began to shake, muscles' contracting until it was painful.

"Tch, pathetic." Sasuke said turning away from the still smoldering remains and moving to face Dasuto. "Is this the kind of scum the Sound Village recruits? Hn, I'm doing the world a favor by killing you all off. So why don't you just lie down and die like your boyfriend over there and at least take the honorable way out." By this time the KI and painful intensity of the black chakra emanating from the Uchiha was nearly unbearable, Dasuto could barely keep himself from balling up into the fetal position and crying his life away. Indeed it was only that spark of something that kept him from doing just that.

"So you're not going to make this easy are you? Pity, I would of made it painless for you if you had just given up." Black chakra formed around his hand, so concentrated it was visible to the naked eye. "Time to die!" the chakra infused hand drew back, even this close he could feel the unmistakable power in the incoming blow. It was all over, here he would die, his vengeance unfulfilled. Pathetically, just like he deserved. He didn't even bother to resist.

"Dasuto!" the blow never came, instead impacting on a more willing sacrifice. Kin collapsed, her shoulder basically dissolved by the brutal blow.

"Annoying gnat!" Sasuke raged, kicking Kin's body away, where she impacted against a gnarly tree with force enough to splinter the aged wood. Turning his attention back to the only remaining Sound ninja he administered a brutal backhand, sending Dasuto flying, turning at full turn in the air.

Painfully raising his head he saw the crumbled form of Kin laying against the tree, her beautiful face blank and staring. Just like a fragment of a memory, a whisper on the wind.

"Mother."

* * *

His eye's slowly adjusted to the dimly lit confines of his family's cottage. Long ago the once roaring fire had died to embers, taking with it the light and warmth it had once supplied.

All at once he let go of the breath he had seemed to been holding, exhaling it all in a cloud of visible water vapor that was a better indicator of the frigid temperature than his incessant shivering.

The bodies of his slain family lay where they had fallen, as if there only purpose was to remind him this was no nightmare.

His tear stained faced was freshly painted as he struggled to move, his body fighting the effects of blood loss and trauma. The wound on his stomach had long ago clotted, but he was probably still suffering from internal bleeding. It was amazing that he hadn't croaked already.

The passing of time was impossible to discern but from the blood moon fully visible through the cracked window it had to be around twelve at night, the witching hour. In the corner of the makeshift charnel house the rusty hour hand on the grandfather clock creaked along, announcing the full coming of midnight.

Bong, bong, bong, the ancient family heirloom toned, sounding more sonorous and full of promised malice than ever before.

Suddenly silence. Nothing. Not a cricket sounded from outside, not a bat's screech or howls call. Perhaps more eerily even the wind was absent, the air taking on a dead feel to it, like breathing in too much dust, or like the dry rotted stench of an ancient tomb.

The sound of an uneven shuffling gait brought his attention to the open door, but in the end he really wished it hadn't.

The, thing walked on four legs, yet had a distinctly human torso that rode only inches above the ground. Appendages that might have once been hands, pulled uselessly behind it, walking instead on the elbows and knees that bent the wrong way, extended at an impossibly shallow angle.

It was wearing the remains of what he could only guess was once an expensive evening gown, the soiled green hem of its dress dragging along the stone floor. Eye sunken and black, the iris completely consumed stared vacantly off into the far distance and pale cracked lips separated to reveal an unnaturally wide mouth, complete with rows and rows of razor sharp fang. It was or had been female, that much he could decipher, though his mind failed to comprehend just how it's current appearance had come to pass.

The nightmarish creature continued to crawl, making its way around the ruined table and he didn't dare breathe for fear that it might draw its attention.

Stopping in front of his mother's corpse the abomination lowered its disjointed head and took a giant bite out of her face, the crunch of bones and ripped cartilage accompanying the oozing of coagulated black blood.

It was too much, he squeezed his eyes shut and let out an involuntary whimper.

'_The cursed devouring the cursed, it's an interesting cycle.' _

The voice was deep, much like his father's had been and it seemed to resonate beautifully with the still lingering violence, a fine vintage to accompany the extravagant shedding of blood.

The demonic scavenger had finished with the face, chewing off the cheeks and crunching the eyes, appearing to savor the taste of the cooling flesh. Moving onto the bloated stomach its teeth once again went to work tearing and ripping.

He refused to open his eyes, but still his other senses were assaulted. The snap of displaced ribs, the stench of newly released bile, the drawn out tear of sinew and flesh.

_'The witch is the product of failure, a fools venture into the dark arts and a wager made and lost.'_ It almost sounded smug, speaking with contempt on the vile scavenger feasting below. _'Though you would be familiar with that, bargaining with that of the highest importance.' _It was mocking now, laughing at him for some jest he had never been privy to.

The sounds of barbarism had ceased and he risked a chance, opening his puffy eyes to survey the world beyond.

"Flessssssh." The witch's distorted face was inches from his own and the scent of iron and rotting meat stifling in its intensity. He gagged and tried to scramble further back into the corner, desperate to escape.

The cursed soul's mouth opened impossible wide, like a snake preparing to devour the mouse. His head would easily fit in that blackened hole.

_'My my, so weak. You're actually going to let this pathetic creature end your new life? Pathetic, but fine, follow in your family's footsteps.' _The voice mocked and the newfound feeling of anger, almost as if it was sentient, roiled in the pit of his stomach.

_'No! Not before I get what I need!' _he internally screamed and an unnatural strength flooded his dead arms.

_'Still pathetic.'_ The voice sighed but he didn't listen, his tiny hand slamming into the freakish being's skull, piercing the thick skull and partially decapitating the loathsome being. Chunks of brain matter flew backwards and the witch's body went into a series of violent spasms, yellow blood spurting unnaturally into the air.

_'But I think this might just work.' _

The voice! He hadn't heard it in so long he had nearly forgotten, that voice that seemed to cross over whenever he ventured into the outer expanses of the emotional depths he was capable of, almost as if that was what fed it.

_'Well now, there's a thought, perhaps the first genuine one you've had since that Snake put that ridicululas seal on you. Trying to route sewage through water pipes, how foolish. Of course maybe it's just the influence of yours truly that's got you thinking hmm?' _

"Gahh!" he scrambled in the dirt, bracing himself up against a nearby tree.

It was back, after nearly seven years of absence the blasted other was back in his mind full force.

_'Yes I'm back what a surprise and what a sorry state this place has gotten to in that time? What happened to your all consuming desire for revenge? Your drive for power? Have you truly forgotten the purpose of your entire miserable existence?'_ the voice was angry now and he shivered at the intense KI that emanated from the other from the void.

_'But, I can't. He's too strong; he'll just do me like he did Zaku. Like he did to…Kin.'_ Even now in the heat of battle his self doubt would not leave him, fear gripped his heart in an iron embrace.

_'After all these years your still so naïve.' _The watcher scolded, sounding for the world a father disappointed in his child's shortcomings _'It has nothing to do with this arrogant upstart; your, our destiny lies elsewhere. All you need to do is remember why.' _

_'Yes, I remember.' _"I, Remember!"

* * *

Sasuke couldn't believe how amazing he felt. Truly this curse mark was the answer to all his problems. With this power he could destroy his traitor brother, slaughter Orochimaru and rebuild his clan stronger than ever. Feeling confident in his victory he deactivated his Sharingan.

_'Although I suppose I should be grateful to that Snake bastard, without this alteration I would still be mucking around in the dirt with these mortals.'_

Chuckling evilly he smashed his boot into the final Sound ninjas gut. However the response was not what he expected as at some point the grounded shinobi had lost consciousness.

_'The gall of the worm! Passing out, from no doubt fear, in order to hide from his destruction?' _Sasuke fumed and started the hand signs that would incinerate this blemish from existence.

"If you are too much of a coward to face me in combat, then you will die like the nobody you are!" he completed the hand signs with a flourish and called out his signature move.

"Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!"

"I, Remember!"

'_What?'_

* * *

Raw emotion ran through Dasuto like a dam had been blown, the huge torrent of seething rage washing away all other thoughts. He hadn't felt this alive in years.

_'Good boy, now I suggest you move, that fireball looks none too welcoming.' _

And he did, rolling out of the way just in the nick of time, his parka catching fire from the intense heat. Pirouetting gracefully he shucked the burning garment, flinging it off to one side with an almost casual ease.

'_Now attack!' _

Following the suggestion instantly he launched a snap kick, catching the unprepared Uchiha squarely on the lip with his heavy boot, sending him stumbling back.

Sasuke held his split lip and cursed. Blood dripped between his fingers in a steady trickle. Unhealthy contempt shone in his eyes and he snarled.

"You bastard! I'm going to tear you into pieces!" pulling a kunai from his pouch the marked nin, reactivated his Sharingan, dropped down low and charged.

Dasuto observed the incoming blur and threw his own knife, before drawing a second and meeting Sasuke head on. With a clash the two nin's kunai met, clashed and withdrew only to meet again split seconds later.

'_That's it! Thrust, parry, thrust, slash, feint, kill, KILL, KILL!'_ Dasuto ignored the voice, concentrating instead on letting the movement flow from his instincts.

Their attacks increased in pace and as one they leapt apart, knives still at the ready, eyeing their opponent warily in case of any trace of deception.

Dasuto tried to catch his breath, his heart rate pounding about three times higher than it normally would. There were numerous cuts and bruises all over his body, but he paid them no mind. In fact he didn't even register their existence.

Sasuke's lip was still bleeding, but other than that the other teen looked no worse for wear. Around him the black chakra flared and Dasuto noticed beads of sweat starting to build up on the others pale forehead.

'_Maintaining the curse mark must be wearing this guy out. Even the sound four can only hold their stage one forms for fifteen to twenty minutes at best, if I can only keep this up until then…' _Dasuto grinned, he would survive after all.

'_Good plan mendicant, now you just have to actually do it. Me, I have five on the Uchiha.' _The other mocked and Dasuto clenched his teeth.

'_Great support, thanks.'_

'_I do what I can boy, I do what I can.' _

* * *

Ino, Choji and Shikamaru watched with bated breath from behind the protective barrier of their flimsy bush cover.

"Shikamaru what's happening?" Choji sputtered worriedly, concerned about the evil feeling chakra that was starting to saturate the battle torn clearing.

The lazy genin shrugged, putting up the air of nonchalance that had become his trademark. "I don't know, but whatever is producing that black chakra is obviously not a natural o." Inside however he was thinking a little differently, _'Something has altered the Uchiha's chakra signature to the point that it's unrecognizable. This is not good, any jutsu capable of completely derailing and recreating ones tenketsu has to be detrimental to one's health, not to mention draining on their reserves. Plus there could be psychological damage if any of the nodes in the cerebral cortex were damaged. This is not good.'_

"Well I say we ju-just stay here and watch, if Sasuke needs help, then, then we can help." Choji tried to sound confident, but failed miserably. It was a fact that wasn't lost on his other two teammates, but nobody decided to act on it.

"Ha! Yeah right, Sasuke is gonna kick that freaks ass!" Ino said confidently, but Shikamaru only shook his head. At this point, judging from the steady increase in the unstable black chakra emanating from the Uchiha, perhaps it would be better for all of them if he lost, and fast before it was too late.

* * *

Less than fifty meters away, Neji Hyuga was coming to the same conclusion. His Byakugan active he had noticed the steady buildup of foreign chakra in the Uchiha's body and the subsequent flooding of his chakra network. Soon it would reach a critical mass and something would have to give. What would happen when that occurred he didn't want to find out and as soon as Ten-ten returned with Lee they would leave this place and fast.

Speaking of the female weapon-mistress, she landed behind him with a naught a noise and without his Byakugan active he doubted he would have heard her. Panting she set the unconscious Lee down, struggling under the burden of his massive training weights.

"We are leaving this place, pick up the other one and follow." Neji spat, jumping off into the dark without checking to see if she followed.

Ten-Ten sighed, it was after all nothing new "Come on Lee; let's not keep Dandy Boy waiting." She said, hefting the heavy spandex wearing teen on her shoulder.

"Mounds of youthfull, youthfulness." Lee mewed, a drooling grin gracing his features.

Ten-Ten giggled "No more for you!" and sped off into the gloom.

* * *

'_Punch, kick, it's all in the mind!'_ The other was just rambling at this point, talking just for the hell of it and if Dasuto was any smarter he'd say it was trying to make up for years of silence.

They had been fighting now for going on thirty minutes and he was starting to slow. Sasuke on the other hand was seemingly gaining momentum as the fight wore on and Dasuto's body sported dozens of cuts and gashes to prove it.

In a flash they were at it again. Long ago Dasuto had exhausted his supply of throwing knives and was now relying on his last bit of hardware, a one foot long hunting knife that spent more time on his belt and skinning dinner than clashing with a supercharged enemy shinobi.

"Why won't you DIE!" Sasuke screamed as he tried for a thrust to Dasuto's eye socket, turned away at the last second by a slight tilting of his blade. Immediately three more slashes came his way, the third connecting with the bony side of his lead arm, jarring the bone and causing Dasuto to grunt in acknowledgement.

He was beyond pain at this point and every second he felt the ever looming threat of madness creeping steadily closer.

'_Yes the gap is closing, soon it will be enough.' _The other laughed _'Just keep at it boy and leave the rest to me.'_ Dasuto didn't even acknowledge it at this point, so lost in the rhythm of battle to even care.

However his cooperation wasn't required, the subtle changes that had been occurring felt natural, right even. A tingling feeling began to build up in his left arm as something began to fill him up, like a freshly dug well reaching the cool currents below. All he had to do was raise the bucket and take a sip.

'_Left straight now!' _his hand crackled with purple eldritch energy as he responded without thought to the others compelling suggestion. Connection.

The enhanced blow smashed through the Uchiha's defenses, shredding his kunai and carving a long shallow gash along the inside of his arm. Where the purple field connected, the material withered and decayed, the cloth of his outfit molting and falling to dust, while the flesh took on a sick decayed look.

Sasuke screamed again, this time in pain, as he used all his formidable speed to get as much distance as possible between himself and this new threat.

'_What the fuck! How come my Sharingan couldn't predict that? It's almost like it wasn't chakra, but if it wasn't, then just what the hell was it?' _The curse mark user wondered, before shaking it off and reassuming the cocky attitude that had served him so well before. _'Okay so it's time to stop holding back, show this slime what a true Uchiha is capable of.'_

Meanwhile Dasuto stood still, mouth hanging open in total disbelief. _'What the hell was that?'_

The thing in the back of his mind chuckled at his gracious host's confusion.

'_That my boy was the beginning of something I will happily share with you at another time. For the present however let's concentrate on that series of deadly fireballs flying at your skull. Yeah better evade.'_ Dasuto cart-wheeled, yes cart-wheeled, out of the way of the incoming incendiaries, only to run directly into his enemy's cocked fist.

Wham. He would later swear he went cross-eyed and as he flew through the air once again, seeing chunks of white that could only be teeth go flying along.

'_Thank the gods you didn't have that many brain cells to begin with kid, otherwise I'd be worried.'_ Other cackled, the misfortune of his charge giving him great amusement.

'_Heh, fwuck dwu!' _

'_Idiot.'_

Sasuke approached his downed enemy with a saunter in his step; well at least as much saunter as he could manage with a crippled arm. "Well, I have to admit you managed to be a mild nuisance. But in the end I cannot lose, for you see I will not stop until I get my revenge for my clan, until I kill a certa…"

"Oh shut the fuck up duck-butt." While they might have the same motives driving them to succeed, the loose feeling he had all along his jaw line didn't do much for his attention span.

If Sasuke was pissed before, he was livid now. No one steps on an Uchiha's monologue! No one!

"Now you die peon!" Sasuke drew more corrupted chakra into his fist than ever before, enough to completely obliterate this unexpected pain in the ass for good.

As for Dasuto, he merely closed his eyes and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

After what seemed like an appropriate amount of time, he cracked one of his eyes open.

"Hi." Kin dropped the branch she had used to K.O. the Uchiha and fell to her side. Sasuke had fallen as well and the curse mark receded back into its dormant state.

"Kin!" Dasuto cried and used his good arm to crawl over to her. Now that the battle had ended, his wounds that he had sustained were starting to catch up to him.

"Kin." He whispered, cradling her head in his arms, moving the few stray strands of hair from where they had come undone. She was alive, that was a relief. So was the dark haired Konaha nin. He would soon fix that.

But before any violent action could be taken, the trio of Konaha nins that had been hiding nearby made their appearance.

"Sasuke-kun!" a blond haired kunochi in a purple dress rushed to her crushes side, falling to her knees and sobbing over him in an overtly dramatic fashion. "Why? Why? WHY!"

"I think enough blood has been shed today, any more would just be *sigh* troublesome." The pineapple haired genin said, shaking his head at his friend's continued theatrics. Sighing he walked over to Sakura and hoisted her up on his shoulder. "Choji get Sasuke and let's go."

The big boned Akimichi said something indiscernible and moved to pick up the Uchiha, only to be blocked by a wildly swinging Ino.

Dasuto chortled as the Konaha Nin tried to pull up the berserk wailing kunochi away only for her to cling that much harder.

"You two should get out of here, before Sasuke wakes up." Shikamaru warned, walking away with Sakura in tow. Turning over his shoulder he paused "I'm sorry about your friend; that was wrong, even for an enemy." With that he turned back and walked away and Choji having finally succeeded in prying Ino off, followed. The teal eyed girl however stayed behind.

"You're lucky that girl got the drop on Sasuke, otherwise you would have been finished. Meh!" With that she pulled down her eyelid, stuck out her tongue, turned on her heel and sashayed out after her teammates.

_'I'll kill the stupid cunt!'_ Dasuto attempted to give chase but his body pulled a reality check and forced him to set back down.

Kin placed a hand on his leg. "Zaku?" it was a simple question asked with an almost heart crushing amount of hope behind it.

Dasuto glanced over to the smoldering pile that lay at the other side of the clearing and shook his head.

"Oh," Kin seemed like she wanted to say more but didn't instead burrowing her head into his chest. It was, pleasant.

Dasuto squeezed her tightly against him then got up, bringing her up with him where he held her in an easy embrace.

"Come on Kin we need to get to the tower. Let's take care of Zaku and go." Kin simply nodded in agreement.

About thirty minutes later the two departed, the only thing left in the clearing a freshly turned pile of dirt and a charred Sound headband blowing in the wind.

* * *

"I don't know Shikamaru, it's just I have a feeling we're forgetting something." Choji said, readjusting his load on his shoulder while eating from a bag of chips with his free hand. The team had been moving for about thirty minutes, making good time in the heavily forested canopy.

"What do you mean? Did you forget your lunch again?" Shikamaru deadpanned and Choji shook his head.

"No I mean something we were supposed to do, or something we were supposed to take?" the lazy teen shrugged. Meanwhile Ino's face took on a devious look and she decided to rib on Choji.

"Geesh Choji what are you worrying about? You sound like Hinata when she's talking about _Naruto_."

Ino's eyes went wide, Choji nearly spat out his chips and Shikamaru just face-palmed.

"Shit!"

* * *

Naruto yawned, rubbed his bleary eyes and stretched his arms. He felt great, while he was out he dreamed that Sakura had taken him out on a date to a Ramen factory and that someone had pushed them into a big vat of noodles where they had held hands and kissed and he had eaten until his stomach burst and he gave birth to his right knee. After that it got a little hazy, but he remembered something about eggbeaters and a very friendly pink-haired walrus. Speaking of which…

"Hey Sakura-chan! What day is it? I feel like I've been sleepin for a week!" he grinned looking around for his missing team. When nobody responded he called out again beginning to get a little worried. "Sakura! Sasuke! Where are you guys?"

Silence greeted his called and at that moment Naruto could only express his utter dismay in a singular unique thought.

_'Crap.'_

A/N: And there you go, another chapter. At first I thought I should let Kin die but then decided against it instead opting to keep at least one of the original Team Dosu live. For now. Anyways tell me if you hated it, despised it, loathed it or held it in abhorrence. Or did it just make you plain mad? A

Anyways until next time. Peace.


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